In many applications, a machine-readable identifier, such as a barcode, QR codes, or radio-frequency identification, are often associated with physical objects. These machine-readable identifiers can be read and processed in computing systems to cause one or more operations to be performed. For example, in some environments, the machine-readable identifier can be read and processed in a computing system to retrieve information associated with a physical object corresponding to the machine-readable identifier that was read (e.g., an identity of the physical object that is in a data format that can be recognized by the computing system). Use of machine-readable identifiers can be an effective mechanism for facilitating recognition of the physical object with which they are associated. However, if the machine-readable identifier for a given physical object is unavailable or cannot be read, it may be necessary to find another one of the given physical objects that is accompanied by a readable machine-readable identifier or to look-up information about the physical object by entering characteristics/parameters of the physical object into the computer system until the appropriate information about the physical object is found. Such procedures require high overhead costs for manually generating the database in which searches are to be performed and may be susceptible to fraudulent activities.